Building a Stronger VIP Experience at Your Next Event

Planning an event is no small feat, and when your guest list includes senior executives, industry leaders, or influential clients, the stakes can feel even higher. But designing a memorable VIP experience doesn’t need to mean flashy and extravagant experiences. It’s about curating personalized, high-value interactions that make your VIP guests feel seen.

In this guide, we’ll simplify the VIP process and walk through creative and practical ways to build a stronger VIP experience at your next event.

Tiers of Access, Not Separation

First, it’s important to build an experience that makes your VIPs feel special without alienating or dividing from your other attendees. The goal is to offer tiers of access, not separation. So, everyone has access to something, just a different tier of that access. For example, if everyone has transportation from the airport to the venue, VIPs may have greeters waiting for them. Or if you’re offering your attendees meet and greets with a guest speaker, set extended time for your VIPs.

Personalization and Customization

Oftentimes, VIPs are lumped into one exclusive group with a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, take every opportunity to customize an experience or a gift tailored to the individual VIP. Personalization will make each gesture more memorable and meaningful for the attendees, and reflects the thought and effort that went into it.

Tailored Communication

Much of a successful VIP experience starts well before the actual event date. After all, your guests’ first impression of your event begins with your event communication. Seize that opportunity to make sure your guests feel like VIPs.

Create a communication campaign specifically for your VIPs with their arrival information, event agenda, and any other key details. Make sure this track is separate from all other regular event communications so they’re not receiving duplicate messages.

Use Names Wherever You Can

Typically, attendees don’t really see their name printed anywhere besides their name tag, especially at large events. A simple yet impactful gesture is to identify other touchpoints where you can customize event materials with your VIPs’ names, whether it’s printed agendas, place cards, or welcome letters.

Build a VIP Lookbook

Before your event, build a “lookbook” with all of your VIPs names, headshots, and job titles. You can also include their preferences and personal facts that will help make your VIPs feel really cared for. Think of it as a cheat sheet for your staff to familiarize themselves with to quickly learn your VIPs.

Pre-Event Surveys

Send out pre-event questionnaires to gather preferences of your guests ahead of time. That way if you’re preparing a gift basket for each of your VIPs, you can eliminate the guess work on what they like or don’t like. These small touches show that you care and increase the likelihood that your guests will truly enjoy their gift.

Our favorite example of an impactful VIP personal touch comes from our Manager of Event Planning Services, Joey Rodriguez. She once managed an incentive trip where the CEO wrote 200 personalized letters to each attendee. The CEO referenced a spreadsheet that included small details about each of the employees, such as their likes, dislikes, family members, and recent milestones that he would mention in each card.

“Each card was specific to the person, talking about their children, or thanking them for a milestone they made. I watched people read their letters and cry. It was such a cool and thoughtful gesture,” recalls Joey.

Elevate Convenience Over Complexity

It’s important to remember that having VIP guests does not mean you have to plan for two separate events. Oftentimes, implementing small changes to provide your VIPs more convenience can make the biggest difference.

Early Access

Give your VIPs first access to content or experiences that are part of your existing event plan. It could be an industry report you were planning on releasing after a keynote session, or perhaps a swag bag. Granting early access doesn’t add any extra cost, but can go a long way in building that “exclusive” VIP feel.

“Fast Pass” Solutions

On a similar note, find areas where you can cut out lines and wait times for your VIPs. If all attendees need to go through a registration station to retrieve their badge, think of pre-printing badges for your VIPs and have them ready for them in their rooms. If you’re hosting an offsite, organize early transportation for your VIPs so that they don’t need to stand in line.

Lighten the Load

If you’re gifting your guests with larger gifts, consider shipping those gifts to their address after the event so that they don’t need to worry about having to fit into their luggage when traveling home.

VIP Liaison

If you have a celebrity guest, or an extra special VIP, our Manager of Event Planning Services always recommends providing a dedicated VIP liaison for that person.

“Anytime somebody feels like they have a personal concierge, you’re going to feel like a VIP. If I see a lot of speakers or C-suite executives, I always recommend adding a VIP liaison for them.”

The role of a liaison is a lot more than ushering a VIP to and from each session. A liaison is dedicated to your VIP throughout the event, meets the guest upon arrival, anticipates their needs, and ensures that they are well taken care of. With so many moving parts on event day, having a VIP liaison focused on your most important guests makes your VIPs’ experience better and gives you room to focus on other areas of the event.

Final Takeaways

Simplify your VIP experience by focusing on the existing areas of your event you can elevate.

• Add tiers of access without creating exclusion
• When possible, customize experiences and items to each individual VIP
• Provide early access to content and experiences
• Develop a clear VIP communication track
• Focus on the small gestures that signal care and attention

You don’t need to plan two separate events for your VIPs. When it comes to successful VIP experiences, we’re all about the intentional touches over extravagant, big budget materials. With just those few elevated details you can design a VIP experience that feels special and impactful.